December 25, 8:15 pm
Clay and Apollo had chatted with Athena through dinner as she directed conversation to less weighty topics…and when the plates were taken away on Miles Edgeworth’s tab, she wished them luck and lingered behind.
Simon was likely still busy at the station. Halblicht was likely as well. And she had too much on her mind to play ‘sociable Athena’. On top of that– it was Christmas, which meant she still had time for her and her ‘inexperience in love’ as Clay bluntly put it to do their usual Christmas tradition.
She bought herself a slice of Christmas cake (it’s important to love yourself!) and scampered back to her room to see if the hotel in Cauli had any good space operas– or even classic sci-fi animation– for her to nibble on her cake through.
When the door closed, and Ema decided ‘to go see what the glimmerous fop was up to’, Athena changed into her nightgown and settled in with the remote and a plate on her lap to click through the options, her fork hanging from her mouth and a solid two bites cut through the spongy cake and thick frosting.
Eventually, there was a polite knock on her door.
Athena looked up, and as was always her woeful reflex, called out “come in??” despite the fact she’d just taken a bite of strawberry.
The door opened, and Simon peeked in– Bobby Peeking in behind him, too.
“Good evening, Athena,” Simon purred. “We just wanted to check on you before bed. Lest you think we ran into some difficulty.”
“We ran into dinner!” Bobby added, helpfully.
Athena blinked at them with a strawberry balanced in her mouth, in her pj’s, with ‘Macross: Do You Remember Love?’ playing on the television and casting the dim room in flickering light.
She flushed, and quickly swallowed the strawberry to hide her mouth with her hand and wave “At least dinner didn’t run away!”
“Lucky us!” Bobby laughed loudly at the joke.
Simon chuckled too. “Indeed. Well, you look very cozy there. Shall we catch up with you in the morning?”
Athena shook her head, putting the plate to the side with a lopsided smile.
“no no! I mean…” She gestured to the TV “this is just how I usually spend Christmas, that’s all..but I’m more interested in you guys! How’d things go at the station?”
“Shall we come in then?” Simon smiled. “Rather than lurk in the door?”
Athena sat up on the bed and scootched back towards the headboard with a nod.
“Please! Ema’s out for the night…she went to go visit Klavier.”
“Ahhh,” Simon nodded and slipped into the room, pulling Bobby with him and shutting the door behind them.
“Well, we’re happy to keep you company for the moment, Ms. Athena!” Bobby grinned and settled down in the desk chair. “What are you watching?”
Athena pointed to the screen with a grin “it’s the 1984 movie “Macross: Do you Remember Love”, which is a loose and divergent retelling of the original Macross storyline!”
She leaned on her hand with a grin. “it’s got a pop idol in it, who’s song helps save the day.”
“OH!” Bobby grinned widely and she felt a wave of delight rolling out from him. “Macross! I have a friend at the station who has some figures from the series on his desk.”
“Someone’s got great taste then!” Athena laughed cheerfully, “if you guys wanna watch the back half with me, you can…though I am curious how things went after I left…”
Simon chuckled. “If you want to pause it, we can catch you up. Or we can just watch the movie with you and worry about life’s realities in the morning.”
“….life’s realities sounds uh…” Athena licked her lips nervously “dire?”
Simon laughed and slapped the wall. “You know me, Athena. I always sound dire. No, its been a dire day– but things are on the upswing, I think.”
“An upswing huh?” Athena relaxed with a broad smile “alright…then how about we hear it, and I’ll sit you both down and we’ll watch the Macross movie together from the start asap!”
“I’ll make myself comfortable then,” Simon said, settling down on the foot of the bed. “Now, you were asking how it went?”
December 25, 7:15 pm
When Trucy came back into her hotel room after spending some of Christmas evening with her daddy, she found Pearl face down on the bed asleep.
“Awww….” Trucy whispered as she shut the door behind her, a flushed little grin on her face as she shimmied past to put her hat on the bedside table. “…Can’t blame her, it’s been a crazy vacation.”
“Mmmmfff….”
“Mmmmffff is right, Pearly.” Trucy nodded sagely as she unclasped her cape. “That’s the word of the day.”
Slowly Pearl rolled over on her back and rubbed her eyes, yawning. “It sure is.Gosh.”
Trucy knelt by the side of the bed, propping herself up with her elbows to look at the sleepy Pearl with a tilt of her head “I gotta ask, what’s got you all sleepy, P? It’s not that late.”
Pearl held up what Trucy initially took to be a peace sign.
“Two, Trucy,” she said. “I did two summonings today. In under an hour. It super wiped me out.”
“Wait , hold the phone!” Trucy’s eyes widened. “You did two summonings???”
She dropped onto the flat of her legs with a low whistle.
“man, no wonder you look like you ran a marathon..who the heck did you have to summon here? Was it part of daddy’s murder investigation? He didn’t tell me he was having you summon anyone!”
“He didn’t?? He called me and told me they needed me at the police station!” she said, propping herself up on her elbows. “You are never gonna guess what it was about!”
“Oogh…” Trucy huffed “…honestly he probably didn’t tell me because I was talking his ear off about Klavier’s commercial.”
She tilted her head and playfully joked “Another possession?”
Pearl slapped her hands down on the bed. “Yes!! Ugh!!”
“Wait for frickin’ real??” Trucy flopped down on the bed next to her “no way, no way no how! Apollo and that guy at the restaurant are it. They gotta be, right? That’s just too many ghosts!”
“Nooo!!!” she kicked her feet back and forth in the air. “There was another one! I’m serious! Thank heck there wasn’t one at the commercial today with everything else!”
“Yeah, Imagine if Wendy Oldbag turned out to have the ghost of uh…” She thought for a moment “someone who isn’t a pain in our butt.”
She leaned on her hand , rolling onto her side “…but seriously, who the heck was the other one?”
“I don’t even know!” she pouted. “The murder victim I guess.”
“The murder victim’s a ghost already??? Isn’t there like…a cooldown on that kinda thing?” Trucy asked with a puzzled frown “…who were they possessing, anyway?”
“There super isn’t a cooldown,” she said, shaking her head. “And she was possessing the person who murdered her! Which, keep this close to your chest okay, we’re not supposed to know– is apparently also the case with that guy who was with Prosecutor Blackquill and Miss Athena!”
“Woah…bonkers.” Trucy pressed her hand to her face “…so we got victims possessing murderers. Imagine if this became like, an epidemic?”
Pearl let out a wail.
“Nooooooo!! None of that!!” she sniffled and wiped her face. “It’s probably not likely anyway. I had Miss Athena explain what was going on after I summoned Mia to explain what was going on.”
“Ah yes, the ol’ summoning amnesia ‘explained what was going on’ circle” Trucy nodded sagely “I’ve heard Daddy tell of that legendary event many a time.”
She tilted her head “…sooooooooooo….what’s goin’ on?”
“Um, it’s kind of scary, are you sure you wanna know?” She cocked her head at Trucy with the kind of smile that made it obvious she wanted to tell her– and that she fully expected Trucy to want to know.
“You know me, I deal with terrifying and dreadful magicks every day,” she winked “…lay it on me, Pearly.”
Pearl rolled over to lean against her, and played with the blanket with her hands. “Apparently there’s this organized crime ring or something that has a way of training its guys from childhood that makes their souls like, super small. And that means ghosts can just chill in their bodies.”
Trucy blinked at her before draping her arm around her and furrowing her brow.
“They make their souls…super small? And that means ghosts can fit inside them?” She hummed dubiously “..I mean, Miss Mia seems like she’s pretty smart , so I’m not gonna call her a liar but I didn’t know souls worked like shrinky dinks. Or are we talking…like…horrifically metaphorically small?”
“Horrifically metaphorically small,” Pearl nodded. “You remember the trial the other day? And how it turned out Mr. Detective Fulbright was an imposter with like, no emotions?”
“Yeah, that was…uh, a lot to watch. When he started tearing his face off and everything? I remember it.”
“Yeah, um. That small,” she murmured. “But the good news is that Detective Fulbright is there too, actually?”
“In…” Trucy’s eyes widened “in the new killer or in the guy who was hanging out with Athena and Simon?? Are there THREE people in the person Daddy was hunting?”
“Nooo! He’s with the guy from breakfast. Who is the guy from the trial the other day. Who is detective Fulbright. Detective Fulbright and his murderer are sharing one body and one very nice looking pinstripe suit, Trucy!” She grabbed Trucy’s shoulders and shook her gently. “And we are super not supposed to know about this.”
Trucy shook back and forth with Pearl’s hands, blinking in confusion as she whistled low under her breath.
“I mean the pinstripe suit is pretty hot. There’s been a lot of well dressed people around lately.”
It was kind of the most logical part of everything they’d been saying, the easiest to just blurt out.
“……”
“Man, Apollo’s gonna be pissed when he finds out.”
“He super already did! He was there too! At the station!”
Trucy closed her eyes. “….okay, scratch that, I’m super pissed….that he didn’t tell me already. Secretive jerk.”
“You just got back from with Mr. Nick!!” Trucy whined.
“Well yeah…but he coulda given me a ring on the Trucy-phone.”
“I think he’s dealing with some stuff!”
Which was true, Trucy knew. It was probably even worse now that all this ghost stuff turned out to be actually for real…and he found out about Detective Fulbright…
“He’ll be dealin’ with more stuff when I bop him on the head.” She said with a teasing grin…she had to make sure Pearl knew she was joking around, of course.
Pearl smiled. “Yeah, I bet you’ll set him straight. You wanna go do that, or do you wanna have room service with me first and I’ll finish explaining all the weird stuff?”
Trucy scooped Pearl up into a hug with one arm, “Well, obviously I gotta have the details if I’m gonna set Polly straight! And you’ve more than earned a big snack!”
Pearl leaned her head on Trucy’s arm and smiled wide. “Thanks, Trucy! There is so much gossip and I am so hungry.”
December 25, 8:15 pm
The Gossip had been almost been as juicy as the steaks she’d bought with Miles Edgeworth’s tab and had shipped up to Pearl’s room. She’d lingered…she always liked lingering with Pearl…about as long as she could before it was finally time to head out.
As Trucy Wright stalked the halls of the hotel, she knew she had to find Polly and check up on him, not really because she was pissed that he didn’t tell her what was going on, but mostly because she couldn’t help but worry.
He’d been so deep in his own head lately, and this ghost thing might have sent him even deeper and Trucy Wright was the only one who could pull him out. Probably.
She’d hardly knocked on the door when she tried to open it, announcing “MAGICAL GIRL TRUCY IS HERE!” with all the cheer and pep her stage training had given her.
The door absolutely did not open when she tried to open it. It rattled, locked. As was typical for hotel room doors.
“Knock knock knock knock??” she said as she rapped her fist against the door. “don’t make me call you, Polly!”
A moment later the door opened and Apollo stood there in his pajamas– an oversized black T-shirt with an illustration of the solar system on it, and a pair of fuzzy, red checkered pants. His hair was damp, and fell in his face.
“Hey, Trucy.”
“Hey Polly Justice.” Trucy flashed a bright grin “or do I have Mr. Clay?”
He started to close the door.
Trucy’s expression turned to horror…and she quickly interposed herself in the crack. If he wanted to close it, he’d have to squish her.
“Nuh uh! No way! Cut that out, you grumpy jerk!”
He sighed, and slumped away from the door, leaving her to come in. “You talked to Pearl?”
“Of course I talked to Pearl. I love her, dummy” Trucy put her hands on her hips. “and we talk about basically everything.”
He flopped down on the end of his bed and looked up at her. “So how much do you know?”
“Well first and foremost…are you doin’ okay? Because you were freaking out earlier and I was worried about you.”
She sauntered in and flopped on the bed near him.
“I mean, I’m doing better than last night, I guess.”
“Uh huuuh..” She leaned on her hands, looking up at him “You wanna talk it out with your favorite boss?”
“Why, are they here?” he repeated the same joke as the night before with a smile as limp as his hair.
“OOF, this is what it feels like when the novice lawyer outgrows poor little Trucy.” She sniffed, rubbing her eyes
He sighed and put his hand on her back. “I’ll talk, Trucy. I just don’t know where to start.”
Trucy smiled at him.
“Good…you know I care , right? I know you’ve been having a hard time…you don’t even gotta talk about it, I already heard. But I figured maybe you’d want some company tonight?”
“You know I always like your company.” He leaned against her, shoulder to shoulder. He seemed tired. Maybe more tired than she’d ever known him.
“Yeah…” She bumped his shoulder lightly “I’m just worried about you, Polly. I know you sometimes get grumpy, but you seem…I dunno, worn out.”
“I feel worn out, Trucy,” he admitted. “I think it’s been the worst week of my life, and there have been some real contenders.”
“Yeah it’s been pretty bad….and it feels like it’s been going on forever, huh?”
Trucy looked up at him with a genuine and sunny smile “but you said you’re doing a little better, right?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I got some news that made me happy. And some news that made me a little less angry. Even if they both made my life a lot more complicated.”
Trucy chuckled softly. “When aren’t our lives complicated? I think we’d all get bored if things were too simple, right?”
“Justitia forbid,” he murmured. “Anyway, I guess I have to believe in ghosts now.”
“Your octobers just got 1000% more spooky! That’s exciting, yeah?”
He laughed and rubbed his hand down his face, covering his mouth. “Yeah, I guess that’s one thing to take away from it. I don’t know how scary ghosts can be though when you’ve already got one you like hanging around.”
“Well…the last time I showed you a horror movie you were curled up in a ball and trying to hide. So…” She grinned widely “maybe you’ll actually survive another Halloween instead of spontaneously combusting? You’re the second most skittish person I know next to Jinxie.”
“Ouch, roast me why don’t you,” he huffed. But he smiled at her anyway. “But maybe I will. Its a whole new perspective,”
She giggled, and stuck her tongue out “yeah, a whole guy’s worth.”
He flushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah we’re gonna get a whole lot of mileage out of that joke, I’m sure.”
“Gotta get it in there before it gets stale.” Trucy nodded “I don’t wanna be outdone by Daddy or someone, you know? “
Apollo suddenly recoiled physically. “Mr. Wright– you’re not going to tell him, are you?”
“What? No of course not.” Trucy held her hands up. “I mean, I thought he knew? He’s the one who called Pearly to be the spirit medium, right? But I’m sure as heck not gonna tell him!”
“He absolutely does not know, unless Pearl already told him,” Apollo said with a grimace at the thought. “The situation at the station that Pearl got called into barely even involved me. I was incidental.”
“Huh.” Trucy rubbed her neck “…well. I promise I won’t tell Daddy okay? If he heard about it, it wasn’t from me. Yeah? Promise.”
“Thanks, Trucy. All this is really complicated, you know? I don’t want to change the way Mr. Wright thinks of me.”
“I get that…” Trucy rubbed the back of her neck. “…if some weird ghost stuff happened with me I probably wouldn’t wanna tell him right away either. Not till I knew how to spin it, you know?”
He smiled a little at her again, and nodded. “Exactly. You get it. And I’d keep your secret too, Trucy.”
“I know you would, Polly.” Trucy grinned at him. “and that’s why we work well together. Don’t forget it, yeah? Nobody aside from the people who already know need to know unless you wanna tell them.”
“Thanks, Trucy. I’d just kind of like to keep it private. We’re not planning on making it a big thing.”
“That makes sense, that makes sense…” Trucy nodded slowly and thoughtfully, “well don’t worry…I’m good at secrets.”
She grinned “Actually, speaking of secrets….I gotta ask..”
“Yeah?”
“Can you believe there’s three possessions going on? Pearl’s just about to lose her mind over it.”
Apollo laughed a little. “Yeah I bet she doesn’t see that many on a typical week, huh?”
“I mean, yeah, I got the sense she barely saw any like…ever. Then three at once. She’s face down on the bed back at the room over it .. .and the exhaustion … .and the late night steak we had.”
Apollo laughed. “Late night steak huh? That sounds like a good time. I should let you get back to her and get face down on the bed yourself.”
Trucy reached up and rustled his hair.
“alright, alright….but just remember your favorite boss when you’re feeling down, okay?” She winked “…see you in the morning, Twopollo”
“Twopollo,” he laughed, and nodded. “Yeah, see you in the morning, Trucy. We can have breakfast together if you want.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Trucy pushed herself to her feet with a last broad grin, and dipped into her stage bow. “I’ll make Miles’ Wallet disappear as my first magic act of the day.”
December 25, 9:00 pm
It was a late work night for interpol. It was usually a late work night for interpol. Even on Christmas.
Agents from all over the world bustled here and there with thumb drives and papers, reports from the away team blew up comm lines and secure cellular phones…and the big three of Lang’s Wolfpack sat alone in the command center, cut off from the hustle and bustle to chat.
Lang leaned on the table with a low chuckle. “you both did great today. With the help of the Chief Prosecutor and his merry band, we actually might blow this thing wide open.”
“We might,” Badd nodded. The bulky detective sat slumped forward against the back of a chair. “But it’s gonna be a hell of a thing. Ghosts. Fuck me.”
“Ghosts.” Ash laughed out loud. “real, actual ghosts. From beautiful summoned spirits to ‘bonsai souls’.”
Her smile twitched in disdain as she mentioned that, Lang noticed it well. “And in one of those bodies, our departed Agent Kelso. Hell of a thing is right.”
“Poor Kelso,” Badd muttered. “I feel bad keeping her in lockup, but until we can trust her uh– host…”
Ash ran her hand through her hair “…I dunno. I think if we give her a decent plea deal at her trial, we might be able to trust her alright. Wouldn’t be the first spy you forgave. Then Kelso can escape a life behind bars, and our little spy gets a second chance.”
Lang chuckled mirthlessly “…it ain’t great. But we can’t do anything until she gets back to LA. I’m sure we can work somethin’ out…you both know I don’t like leashing my wolves.”
Badd nodded. “That’s why I said ‘until’, Sheila, hun. Honestly I think we give it time it’ll work out okay. That Fulbright-Halblicht guy seemed pretty fucking stable all things considered.”
“The psychological wonders of sharing a brain with a man who can’t stop crowing about justice, I suppose.” Ash laughed, nodding at Badd. “Maybe things’ll work out just as well for our suspect. Kelso’s always been a good egg.”
Lang rubbed his chin. “true , very true. We should probably have someone interview the cub before we make prep to send her back to headquarters to prepare for trial. Confirm some intel…we’ve already got agents closing in, we just need to lock it down…and check on her mental state. See if Kelso’s pokin’ through.”
“I can talk to her if you want,” Badd nodded. “I knew Kelso pretty good. I think if she’s there she might open up to me.”
Sheila flashed him a grin, “Tyrell, you’ve got a way with words…I think you’re our best bet. I admit…Asset 24’s early behavior brought back too many bad memories…I’d probably lose precious time in another attempt at arguing self-preservation into the girl.’
Lang pat her shoulder. “Badd’s the man for the job…and I think after he has his little chit chat, we’d all better get some shut eye. Tomorrow’s a big day…the last day free and clear for our dear ‘Lovelace’, if we’re lucky.”
Badd grinned and punched his fist into his palm. “Oh boy am I eager to catch up with that bastard. You’re right though, we need some rest after how long we’ve been going. Although– Sheila….”
Ash tilted her head, looking up from the one of the many papers scattered on the table “yes darling?”
“I watched the footage of the seance. Seemed like you had an idea in your head there for a minute.” He pulled a sucker out of his pocket and unwrapped it. “We should talk about that. After we’ve all gotten some sleep.”
Lang watched as Sheila turned a bright red and started falling into another of her laughing fits. Her hand pressed to her face, hiding her flustered grin. “yeah, you know what…when we all wake up tomorrow morning, I’ll tell you my insane little plan.”
December 25, 9:20
Badd rolled the sucker across to the other side of his mouth as he shouldered through the cell door, and took stock of the situation.
Asset 24, and by extension Agent Sam Wan Kelso, had been uncuffed and allowed free reign of the cell under strict supervision in case she made another attempt on her own life. It seemed she’d taken that liberty to lay face down on the cot with her forehead pressed into the single , fairly hard, pillow.
As the door opened, a muffled murmuring that might have been her…or them…talking to themselves stopped entirely.
“Hey kid,” Badd greeted gruffly. There was no way he was ever going to call anybody by a number. “Got something for ya.”
Slowly, she sat up while rubbing wrists covered in raw bruises from her many attempts to wrench her hands free during the initial capture. For a moment, her stare was blank and quiet, before snapped into a salute.
“You didn’t have to get me anything, Agent Badd sir.” The lazily amused smile of Agent Kelso graced her face…even with the mild difference in features, it was clear and familiar.
It tugged at the man’s heartstrings and he smiled a little sadly. “Yeah, well, it’s christmas, ain’t it? It’s a little late for more coffee, so I brought ya some eggnog and cookies.”
He held up the tray that he’d brought in, with a carton, paper cups, and plate of cookies on it.
The smile grew a little wider.
“you always were the softie of the bunch, sir…and I guess it is Christmas an’ all. I haven’t had eggnog in a w—”
For a moment she seemed at war with herself. There was a hesitation , a tension that rolled through her before the smile smoothed out and her steel-gray eyes darted to the plate with analytical suspicion.
“They aren’t poisoned, are they?” her voice had gone monotonous and quiet.
“Not yet. I always put the booze in after I pour.” He chuckled and set the tray down and took a flask out of his coat pocket, unscrewing it and taking a long drink. “Anyway, kind of stupid to poison ya after all the effort we went to to stop you from finishing yourself off.”
“If you’re from Interpol, yes.” she said carefully “But–”
She stopped herself again, and the emotion flooded back, and took a shaky breath before she waved her hand.
“it’s really dumb. I know you, sir. Mind slipping some of that in my eggnog too? Or will Agent Ash chew you out for bending the rules?”
Poor thing’s afraid of her own shadow.
He grinned anyway and poured two paper cups of eggnog, and added large measures of each of them. “What Agent Ash doesn’t know can’t hurt me. And if she finds out, eh. I’ve survived worse from her than a tongue lashing.”
He offered her her pick of the cups.
Her hand hesitated between the cups, before she took the one on the left and raised it with a cheerful laugh.
“Thanks, boss. What a day for it all to fall apart, or…together, I guess, huh?” She took a long sip with her eyes closed. He saw her shoulders shaking as she swallowed. “Hell of a ‘happy holidays’ from Lady Justitia.”
“Hell of a happy holidays, kid,” he agreed, feeling a thick sensation in his throat. Kelso’d died on christmas eve. And he couldn’t even let her call her family. He knocked back his own eggnog. “Lady justice always seems to have something weird in her pocket around these times.”
Sam reached out with unfamiliar fingers to take a cookie, her movements slow and cautious…perhaps…for the other spirit to gauge Badd’s reactions.
“It may be a sign,” she laughed pleasantly with Kelso’s cocky little grin. “…I mean, I got axed, but I’ve got a head full of intel from when our handler made his sloppy escape.”
She put the cookie in her mouth, and her expression grew more muted…but there was a bit of a smile as she chewed on the cookie “what do you mean? About these times and Justice?”
“You’d be surprised how often this time of year comes up in cases,” he said. He sat his bulky form down next to her and took a cookie for himself. “But we make the best of it, together. We’ll make the best of this, too.”
She looked sidelong at him, chewing thoughtfully on the cookie before following it with a sip of the spiked eggnog.
“I wonder why…” she looked down at the cookie in her hand. “this is really…good. I haven’t had the chance to try cookies or eggnog on my assignments.They weren’t on the authorized list of items I was allowed to order.”
She finally half turned to look at him with her cool and quiet stare “Do you think she can? Make the best of it, I mean.”
Badd put his hand on the kid’s back. He couldn’t help but think about all of the things they’d learned about the organization and how they trained– how they broke– their assets.
“Yeah, kid. I really think so.”
She took another sip of the eggnog, brushing some of her dark hair from her face. “I’ll try not to drag her down. It’s my one shot at survival, after all.”
She looked down at the plate between them, and he felt the rise and fall of her breathing against her back. “And I’m…interested in what the real world is like, I suppose.”
He pulled her a little closer, and squeezed her shoulder. “Good. There’s a lot to be interested in, kiddo. We’ll figure it out. Together.”
December 25, 10:45
As they left Athena’s room and headed, shoulder to shoulder, back to their own Simon reflected on what a day it had been.
It seemed impossible to sum up– like the first half of it, the investigation and arrest– had been one day, and the second half– the ghosts and the rest– had been another.
And not just ghosts. Confirmation of Bobby’s reality. And then a real date with him, and with Robert. A real date, not a stolen moment in the middle of a case, as sexy and romantic as those were. Although, it had been a bit of a chaotic and noisy date tonight admittedly, with a lot of couples packed into the restaurant for Christmas. They hadn’t gotten to talk much– but Simon got to rest his leg against Halblicht’s under the table, and tease him as he carefully protected his precious suit from any dirtying.
Afterwards, he hadn’t expected to sit with Athena for quite so long, but it didn’t bother him one bit. Her presence was calming and welcoming– and the way she treated his relationship with Bobby and Robert was especially a relief. After the world’s least normal day, Athena’s company made everything feel blissfully, peacefully normal.
But now, as Simon closed the hotel room door behind him and heard it click locked, they were blissfully, peacefully alone.
“No need to sleep in that suit of yours tonight, detective,” Simon said with a teasing smirk.
Halblicht caught up short at the remark and he chuckled as he paused. “No I suppose not at all.”
“Thank Justitia,” he remarked. “In hindsight, having to put the clothes back on your was torture.”
“Simon!” Bobby laughed and flushed, but Simon watched as their expression immediately smoothed into a very slight, amused smile. “I saw you looking us over, last night. Tonight you can look as long as you like.”
“I shall be very pleased to. It’s not as if I’ve gotten many chances.”
“No,” Robert agreed. “But provided neither of us goes back to jail, you should have every opportunity you like.”
“We had better not be going back to jail,” he snapped, letting Taka down on his perch, and shedding his jinbaori. “Or someone’s going to pay for it.”
“Absolutely.” Halblicht, too, started to undress, loosening his tie.
As Simon started to get his clothes off, he glanced over. “Halblicht– what’s it like, living the way you do now? Together?”
They paused. “It’s different than before. I–Robert– don’t have any pool of reference with how it’s normal to live, but I’ve been thinking that this way is better than I was. We’ve always got someone to talk to. Bobby’s been helping me understand my…. feelings. The past couple of days.”
“Very kind of him,” Simon said, shedding his button down shirt and draping it across the chair. “And Bobby, what does Robert bring to the table?”
Bobby laughed, their smooth expression becoming embarrassed all at once. “Well, he’s a lot better at thinking things out logically than I am. Even if sometimes it ties him in knots.And he’s really… stable. Like an anchor. You know me, sir, I can get a little over-eager sometimes, or maybe even a tiny bit hysterical. Robert’s been good about jumping in and making sure it doesn’t go too far.”
“Sounds like an ideal relationship, detective,” Simon drawled. Shirt off, he stepped over to Bobby, and started undoing the buttons on his shirt too, making the detective blush.
“I suppose so, sir. It’s been working out surprisingly well. Aside from…. bumps.”
“Better now that you’re free of Robert’s evil masters, I imagine,” Simon said. He felt his fingers shake and he fumbled the buttons for a moment as he thought about what Robert had done. Metis’ death. Clay Terran’s killing only a week prior.
“Much better,” Robert said, putting a hand on Simon’s shoulder and squeezing it. “I’m not interested in doing anything like the work I was put to ever again.”
Bobby rushed in to add. “Honestly, sir, I think he really hopes all of it’s done. I know I do. I couldn’t–” he took a breath, and Simon looked up at them, as Bobby continued. “Well, Robert says I have more power over him now, anyway, so, if it ever came to it– I think this time I could stop him.”
Simon finished unbuttoning their shirt, and let it hang open. He put his head against their bare chest and listened to their heartbeat for a moment. “I pray to lady justice that it will never come to it.”
Halblicht wrapped their arms around him and rocked him gently. “In justice we trust,” they murmured. “I pray it never comes up, too.”
They stood there a long moment in each other’s arms, Simon listening to the reassuring thump of the detectives’ beating heart.
“Can I ask,” Robert finally spoke up, “What it was like this afternoon? Seeing your mentor again? I don’t understand my own feelings about it. I’d like to know yours.”
Simon took a deep breath, shuddering against his warm chest. He felt a thick lump grow in his throat, and he reflected for a moment before he answered.
“It hurt,” he admitted. “It was wonderful, and it hurt. It brought a lot of feelings that I had put away back to the surface. I’m sad for her, knowing that she doesn’t feel like she can move on yet. But it’s also nice to know that she’s still watching over Athena– and perhaps myself.”
Robert nodded, his cheek resting gently on the top of his head. “Are you mad at me?”
Simon sighed. “No, Robert. I’m… sad. I’m sad for you, and I’m sad for Cykes-sensei. And I am so, so incredibly furious with your masters.”
Robert squeezed him tighter. “I’m…” he seemed to hesitate or search for the word. “glad.”
Simon smiled and looked up at his face, that strange and familiar mixture of features that was already replacing the old mask in his mind. “I’m glad too. Holding onto anger toward someone you love is like swallowing fire, and keeping it burning in your belly.”
“Sounds bad for you.”
“Very bad,” Simon huffed. He nuzzled the detective’s neck. “Come on, let’s finish getting undressed and get to bed. And damn it, let’s talk about something more romantic! We have a whole hotel room to ourselves, if we don’t get to use it, so help me Halblicht, I may scream!”
They laughed. “Well, we wouldn’t want that, sir. Let’s see– more romantic. Oh, you know, I’ve been wondering what to do for some place to live when we get back to LA. I don’t think I’m going to be able to go back to my own apartment.”
“Funny enough I’m in the same position myself,” Simon drawled. “Having just gotten out of jail. Something to consider, certainly. It would save effort if we simply looked for one together.”
“Share an apartment, sir?” Bobby grinned, and toppled backward onto the bed in only his boxer shorts.
Similarly undressed, Simon let himself fall into his lap, and put his arms around his shoulders. “Unless we can’t agree on the decor I suppose– but you’re likely to have that very problem even on your own.”
They laughed. “I suppose you’re right, sir. Well– no reason not to consider it.”
“We have a lot to consider,” Simon said, reaching up and running his fingers through their hair. “A whole future reaching out ahead of us, that wasn’t there before.”
“A future,” Robert mused softly. “Now there is something I haven’t had before.”
“And something I haven’t had in a long time. Come with me into it, both of you. We’ll see what it’s got for us.”
“We will, Simon,” they said, scooping their arms around them. “But right now we’re just glad to have tonight.”
Simon chuckled. “That makes three of us.”
And he pulled him into a kiss.